Panto: Sleeping Beauty
Programme texts:
- The Panto
- The People:
- The Plot
- A Word from...
Additional Material
- Read the original script
- Listen to the original soundtrack
- Look at the pictures
- Watch the original movie (now on DVD!)
- Download the Original Programme.
Performances
February 2 to 5, 2006 in Mappamondo Theatersaal Bern.
The Plot
At Princess Rose's christening, due to a silly oversight, the evil sorceress Malicia has been left off the guest list. When she makes an unexpected appearance during the reception to deliver her very own - duly unpleasant - gift, the baby princess' reaction does little to put her into a more pleasant frame of mind. Before sweeping off in high dudgeon, Malicia casts a spell on the baby Princess which foretells that, prior to her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle - and expire. Felicia, the third of the Fairy Godmothers, who hasn't had a chance to pass on her gift yet, manages to defuse the grimness of the curse by making the death a deathlike sleep from which the princess can only be woken by the Kiss of True Love. As there is not that much True Love about and to keep her safe from sharp spindles, the young princess is taken away to the Fairy Godmothers Alicia, Delicia and Felicia's secret forest cottage, where peace reigns, or if you believe almost 16 year old ("well, as good as") Princess Rose, nothing ever happens.
In the meantime, Ron Withecash and his evil sidekick Izzy A. Stinker have joined forces and plots with Malicia and her evil sidekick Slimella, because with Princess Rose out of the way, Ron should be able, finally, to meet his business plan of transmogrifying the Royal Palace into a Fairyworld Theme Park. In return for her cooperation, he promises Malicia to fulfil her ambition of becoming a talk show host on Fairyworld Networks, if she pretends to lift the curse to lure the young princess back to the palace. This message reaches Rose, thanks to a chance meeting with the two unequal princes Henry (aka "Hank") and Jools. As Rose now firmly believes it's safe to return to the capital, nothing can hold her in the hotbed of social rest that is the Fairy Godmothers' cottage.
Her return to the castle is eagerly greeted by her father King Walter and very much less so by his wife Queen Antonique. But all efforts to get Rose back to the safe haven in the forest fail and she is promptly ensnared by the evil Malicia, pricks her finger on a spindle and falls into the deep sleep as prophesised, and with her the whole Royal Household.
So who will wake the lovely Rose when the Curse of Deathlike Sleep hits everybody including the butch Prince Hank and his smarter younger brother Jools?
Will the Royal Palace really end up as the tacky centrepiece to an even tackier Fairy Hyperworld Theme Park?
Will Malicia's superior magic tilt the balance in her favour and will she become the talk of the town with her talk show "Malicia's Magical Moments"?
Will Buttons survive his long sleep without a morsel between his teeth?
Will General Mayhem's campaign to conquer Cook be crowned with success?
And how will Hank and Jools' infuriating mother, Queen Fluenza, fare in her quest for a princely bride, let alone a prospective husband for herself?
Read the next programme item: A Word From...